National Museum

To see Juan Luna's Spoliarium has been something we've wanted to do for a while now, and on one lazy Sunday we made the trip to Manila to finally check that off of our list.

Going to the National Museum on a Sunday was a good move because - 1. There was no traffic en route to Manila , 2. There weren't that many people in the museum (no photobombers, yeay!), and 3. Admission is free on Sundays!

Here's where our adventure got a bit funny. We were so excited to go around and explore the museum, and of course were keeping our eyes peeled for the Spoliarium (which we knew would be HUGE), but we were a bit confused because all the exhibits seemed to be focused on artifacts found on ships, and antique coins and jars, and cannons.

And then we found out that we were in a totally different building! The museum we were in was the National Museum of Anthropology (Museum of the Filipino People), which was across the National Museum of Fine Arts (National Art Gallery) - the museum that houses the Spoliarium as well as all the other paintings we had wanted to see.

It's a good thing we made a mistake though, as this museum was worth going to as well.

So, here we go. National Museum adventure, part 2.

The Spoliarium, painted by Juan Luna in 1884, hangs in the main gallery and is what you will see first upon entering the museum. It's massive and quite breathtaking.  

Art appreciation day

The museum is housed in what was once the old Congress Building.

How gorgeous is the old session hall.

It's crazy to think that we have museums that are so accessible and are even more beautiful than those that we visit abroad, and we aren't even aware of them. I'm glad we took the time to see this beauty for ourselves, and I definitely wouldn't mind visiting again.

National Museum of the Philippines

P. Burgos Drive, Rizal Park, Manila